Linear Silicone Fluids

Basic Properties of Linear Silicone Fluids & Its Uses

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What are linear silicone fluids? 

Linear Silicone fluid compounds consist of spiral chains and can easily float and flow over one another compound. 

  • Linear silicone fluids are odorless, nontoxic, and fireproof. 
  • Linear Silicone fluids have extraordinary thermal stability. 
  • These fluids flow at the highest temperatures. 
  •  Linear silicone oils have lubricant properties. 

Molecular structure of silicone oil: 

 

Linear Silicone Fluids

Molecular Formula of Linear Silicone Fluids

The linear Silicone oil have of groups of siloxane polymers that is combined from chain of silicone and oxygen atoms. This chain is the repetition of silicone, oxygen, and carbon atoms. Linear silicone fluids have many various methyl groups, amino groups that are functional and several thousand units. For the reaction of the siloxane polymers with another mineral by replacing the methyl group with phenyl group. To integrate the siloxane polymers into several types of organic polymers add some reactive organic compounds and this process will give unique properties to this liquid as compared to organic polymers.  

Properties of linear Silicone fluids made by Hangzhou Hengyi Technology Co.,ltd 

Linear Silicone Fluids

Properties of Linear Silicone Fluids

Hangzhou Hengyi is supplying silicone fluids on large scale. This chemical company offers silicone fluids with these properties that are listed below as follows:  

  • Viscosity of Silicone fluids: The viscosity of clear silicone fluid offered    by Hangzhou Hengyi is from 50cst to 1,000,000cst.  
  • Molecular weight: The molecular weight of silicone fluid made by Hangzhou Hengyi depends on the degree of polymerization. 
  • Thermal Conductivity of Silicone Oils: Surface tension is comparatively exceptionally low, and all silicone fluid compounds of Hangzhou Hengyi have low thermal conductivity. It stays unchanged even at the elevated temperatures 
  • Waterproofing agents: Its silicone oils have excellent water resistance and that is why they are highly in demand all over the world. 
  • Damping resistance in Silicone oils: Damping resistance is strong in Hengyi silicone oils. 
  • Insulation Properties: Silicone oils of Hengyi have outstanding insulation and heat resistance properties. Silicone oils have superb di- electric properties. Silicon oils absorb moisture used in di electric breakdown. Silicone fluids are used in transformer oil. Also used as capacitors oil in electric appliances. 
  • Vapor points of Silicone fluids: The vapor points of Hengyi Silicone oils are extremely high and frozen points are all time low.  
  • Boiling Points of Silicone fluids: The working temperature range of silicone fluids is -50℃ to 200℃. 
  • Compressibility of silicone fluids: The linear silicone fluid has extraordinarily high compressibility and cannot be compressed easily during pressurization. The compressibility of silicone fluids is much higher as compared to petroleum-based heat resistant oils and mock lubricants, that’s why silicone fluids are used as damper oil. 
  • Solubility of silicone oils with other solute or solution: Silicone fluid is exceedingly soluble with these solvents that are listed below as follow: 
  • Toluene 
  • Xylene 
  • Ligroin 
  • Mineral spirits  
  • Chlorinated hydrocarbons

Silicone fluids stay insoluble in these solutions that are  

  •  Ethanol 
  • Methanol  
  •  Water  
  • Lubricity Silicone Fluids: silicone fluid has ideal lubricity properties due to its  
  • Strong viscosity 
  • Resistance at high- and low-temperature  

          Here are the lubrication applications of silicone oils are listed below as follow: 

  • wood-wood interfaces 
  • Combinations of plastics 
  • Steel-bronze  
  • Steel-aluminum 
  • Steel-zinc 
  • Silicone oil is harmless to living things: silicone fluids are harmless as they have low viscosity. Low viscosity liquids are always less harmful for humans and animals. Silicone fluids are inert, that is why it is used in skin treatment products and making foods. 
  • Silicone fluids have Radiation Resistance: Silicon fluids are used in the presence of elevated temperature of radiological appliances. The molecule of the silicone fluids has phenyl groups, and the stability of the silicone fluids radiation resistance depends on it. Silicon fluids are extensively used in radiological instruments. 
  • Resistance to Shear Stress: The shear stress resistance of Silicone oils is immensely high, and the shear degradation resistance of silicone fluids stays constant even at the high loads and speeds. As compared to minerals, shear stress does not destroy the molecules of silicone fluids and the viscosity still is changed to earlier level. 

Uses of Linear Silicone fluid: 

 Linear silicone fluids, due to their many benefits, are used in several industries. Here is the list of linear silicone fluids are listed below as follows: 

Uses of Silicone oil in Automobile Industry 

Silicone fluids are widely used in the automobile industry and industrialists take lots of benefits from it. Silicon fluids are used in clutch assemblies of electric cooling fans. Linear silicone fluids are also used in shock absorbers, dashpots oil, hydraulic fluids of planes, and for damping systems that are specially designed for maximum temperature processes. 

Use of Silicone fluids in Wood Working and Construction 

Construction and wood products are the main basic elements of our lifestyle. Silicone oil is used as silicone lubricant sprays during construction and to keep the wood tools safe for a long time. Silicone lubricants are in the form of oils used to keep the greasiness of the construction tools in elevated temperatures. Silicone lubricant oils are waterproof, nonreactive oils and never oxidize the tools. 

Use of silicone oil in Cosmetics 

Silicone oils play a key role in the cosmetics industry. Silicone oils are inactive, light transmission, ultraviolet resistance to sunlight and transparent. Its molecules have weak forces of attraction. It is skin friendly because these are non-toxic, and non-irritating oils. Cosmetic manufacturing companies use silicone oils as emulsifiers. It helps other products to combine with cosmetic products. As it has strong compatibility with other cosmetic materials. Silicone oil is used in facial masks to supply protection to the human face and save it from adverse effects of other chemical products. Linear silicone fluids luster and brighten the human skin. The most demanding products silicone oils that are used in manufacturing of skin care and hair care products are listed below as follow: 

  • Polydisiloxane 
  • Poly methyl phenyl siloxane 
  • Poly dimethyl cyclo siloxane 
  • Silicone glycol copolymer 
  •  Amine group Modified silicone oil 
  • Poly siloxane protein copolymer  
  • Methyl chloride-containing silicone oil 
  •  Emulsified silicone oil  

 

Uses of linear silicone fluids in medical industry: 

  • For the eyes treatment: 

Silicone fluids have effective use in the medical industry. During eye operations and treatment silicone fluids are used due to purity of the oil. 

  • Manufacturing of Medicine: 

 Linear Silicone oil is used in the preparation of medicine that is used in stomach diseases. Silicone oil is beneficial for human digestive system to get relief from gas. 

  • Skin Care Creams and Skin Treatment 

During the manufacturing of skin care products (skin care creams) and medicine. Silicone fluids prevents face skin from drying and creates a protective breathable layer across the face skin. For the treatment of skin diseases, for example burning parts of the body silicone oil is used in the manufacturing of pharmaceutical creams. 

Uses of Silicone oil in Cooking 

As silicone oils have defoaming and anti-foaming properties. Chefs use it in a less amount while frying food to save it from foaming and splashing. It never changes the taste of the food and never creates a smell in the food. 

Use of silicone oil in Textile industry 

In the textile industry the demand for silicone oil is increasing day by day due to its effective use in manufacturing clothes. Silicone oils make the fabric softer and shiny. The linear silicone fluids used as

  • Lubricants 
  • Finishing 
  • Waterproofing 
  • Flame retardants 
  • Antistatic  

Agents in both textile and garments industry. It increases the quality and stability of clothes. The industrialists have saved fabrics for a long time with the use of silicone oils. Hangzhou Hengyi has contracted with textile industries for supplying silicone fluids in copious quantities that are used in printing, coating, and designing. 

Silicone oils used in Aircrafts and Aerospace Satellites: 

Silicone oil has anti-shear properties, that is why it is widely used in planes as hydraulic oil, lubricants, heat transfer oil and Aerospace Satellites industry. 

Silicone oils used in cooling machines: 

Silicone oil is used in cooling devices such as refrigerants. Silicone oil is also used in laboratories for heating baths. 

Uses of silicone oil in paints 

Use silicone oil while painting the walls and machinery products. This will make the paint waterproof and heat resistant. The paint will stay longer on the walls and seasonal circumstances do not affect the paints. A less quantity of silicone oil in paints will make the color shiny and attractive. It will increase the stability of the paints. 

Precautions to use silicone oil on industrial level: 

Silicone oils are used and manufactured in industries daily on a large scale. During the manufacturing of silicone oil on industrial level the workers should follow these precautions that are listed below as follow: 

  •  Avoid standing with uncovered Containers while heating: Cover the Containers and avoid overheating. Overheating builds high pressure and causes cracking of the containers. Vapors of the fluids mixed with air and make explosive material in the air. This will affect the air and taking breathe in that environment is harmful for the workers. Please keep the container tightly closed during high pressures and temperature. 
  • Do not directly use silicone fluids: Do not use silicone spray directly on flame. Keep away the fluids from sunlight, hot surfaces, and open flame. 
  • Educate your staff for the use of silicone fluids: Trained the staff first before sending him to the manufacturing environment place. Wear safe clothes before going to the production place of silicone oil. Please do not send an affected person to that place. If the person is affected, then takeout him from the manufacturing area and change his clothes. If his breathing is difficult then provide him with oxygen to breathe and recover quickly.  
  • Wear a working dress before using silicone fluids: Be dressed in breathing apparatus and suitable protective outfit. Wear Firefighter’s dress to protect yourself from this type of situation. Wear glasses to protect your eyes. Wash the working outfits after using it.  

How Hengyi Tek is important for all the Chemical Producing Industries? 

To meet the needs of your industries for silicone fluids and other chemical products you can contact Hengyi Tek that is a company supplying inorganic and organic pigments on a commercial level. Hengyi Tek chemical group is giving quality assurance to their clients. They use modern technology to produce silicone fluids and deliver them all over the world and have excellent reviews from their satisfied clients. Here I am talking about silicone fluids that are available on Hengyi Tek website with different variations. Here are some the silicone fluids products with their follow: 

  • What is use of Agricultural silicone spreading and penetrating agent? 

 Agricultural silicone spreading and penetrating agent is used to reduce the amount of pesticide and improve efficiency. 

  • What is the importance of silicone spreading and penetrating agent?

     

silicone spreading and penetrating agent is used to increase the uptake and lessen the amount of the spraying agent. 

  • Where is volatile silicone oil used? 

volatile silicone oil used volatile carrier in personal care products, air freshener and antiperspirants. 

  • What is the purpose of Silicon spreading and penetrating agent?

Silicon spreading and penetrating agent is used to lower the water surface tension. 

  • For which industry Silicone defoamer is beneficial? 

Silicone defoamer is used in the textile and paper industry for dyeing paper and polyester at elevated temperatures. 

  • What to do Silicone Leveling Agent in Paints? 

Silicone Leveling Agent is used in UV paint and coating solvent to increase fluidity and smoothness of paints. 

  • What is the use of Caprylyl Silicone Oil? 

Caprylyl Silicone Oil is used in cosmetic industry, skin care products, hair treatment products, deodorant, scent, antiperspirant, and sunscreen. 

Thank you for visiting and reading this blog. If you want to see more chemical products visit Hangzhou Hengyi for more details. 

  

  

 

 

  

rice-crop-growing

Silicone Adjuvants in Agriculture as Herbicides. What else?

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Silicone adjuvants are used frequently in agriculture for increasing the effects of agricultural herbicides and pesticides. Before going deep into the discussion, let’s understand first what adjuvants are. They can be simply explained as support chemicals that can be added to herbicides, pesticides, and insecticides to increase their effectiveness and also add several beneficial characteristics.

rice-crop-growing

 

Agricultural adjuvants are primarily used as an herbicide but their use as insecticides, fungicides, acaricides, and plant growth regulators are also being established.

It’s time to dive further into details of how Silicone Agricultural Adjuvant can be used in different modes:

Silicone Adjuvants for Herbicides:

When these adjuvants are added to the herbicides, they either improve or sometimes lower the potential of the herbicides depending upon the nature of the adjuvant it is being added in. Enhancing the effect of herbicides by adding adjuvants seems pretty straightforward forward but why we would want the adjuvant to decrease the effects of herbicides? Sometimes, the herbicide might be needed to eradicate the growing herbs in crops, and using the herbicide at its full capacity might prove harmful to the crop itself and that is where adjuvants come into play to save the crop while killing the herbs at the same time.

 

Roles of different types of Silicone Adjuvants along with Herbicides:

Activator Adjuvants:

As the name suggests, these types of silicone adjuvants increase the activity of herbicides by enhancing the following characteristics:

  • Increased absorption into the plant surface.
  • Decreased photodegradation of herbicides leads to increased time of activity of herbicides or increased life of herbicidal action.
  • Changes the physical properties of herbicides.

Plants have a thick outer surface known as a cuticle which must be penetrated by herbicides to be effective. The cuticle is made up of wax which is water-repellent in nature and cutin and pectin which are somewhat less repellent to water. Wax is the major factor that limits the absorption of herbicides as the hydrocarbons are the primary component in the wax. The amount of wax and type of wax changes across different species which makes it a bit tricky in choosing the right adjuvant which can help herbicide cross the cuticle easily. 

Surfactant:

Surfactants can be anionic, cationic, nonionic, and organosilicon. They are used after herbicides. The main function of surfactants is to decrease the surface tension between spray droplets of herbicide and plant surface.

man-spraying-a-crop

Nonionic surfactants can be used in combination with a lot of pesticides because it carries no electrical charge. While anionic surfactants carry a negatively charged functional group. Anionic surfactants are more specific and are only compatible with some specific herbicides. Only one cationic surfactant (ethoxylated fatty amines) is commonly used with herbicides. Organosilicon is a relatively newly introduced group of surfactants, and they are replacing the old non-ionic surfactants because of lower surface tension, better rain fastness, and other improved properties than those of non-ionic surfactants.

Silicone Adjuvants for Insecticides and Acaricides:

Silicone surfactants are not very reactive, but their capability to penetrate insects is mainly because the outer layer of insects is somewhat similar to that of plants. Silicone surfactant penetrates the insect’s stroma due to decreased surface tension.

 

Silicone Adjuvants for Fungicides:

Silicone adjuvants used in fungicides are not very much known and there is limited knowledge available. Fungicides are not required to be absorbed into the leaf surface for effectiveness. Instead, they tend to perform better when they stay on the surface of the plant to keep them protected from fungus. 

Contrary to the protective fungus, the systemic fungus is required to be absorbed to perform its function. Silicone adjuvants may prove helpful in the cause of system fungicides. 

Silicone Adjuvants for Plant Growth Regulators:

The use of silicone-based adjuvants such as siloxane polymers has proven to show an increased effect on plant growth regulators and this action is due to increased uptake of plant growth regulators. An example of a silicone adjuvant in plant growth regulators is the use of silicone adjuvant with manganese salt and phosphate which is applied to wheat crops, and it tends to give more outcomes than any other surfactant used.

 

agricultural silicone adjuvants

To sum up the discussion, silicone adjuvants play a vital role in increasing the outcome of crops and reducing the potential damage or harm which can be inflicted by herbs, pests, fungi, and other factors.

Hengyi Technology provides a variety of agricultural silicone adjuvants to be used by manufacturers around the world.

silicone coating

Where and How Silicone can be used?

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Silicone is one element that is very abundant and is top second on Earth, which is 25.8% on the earth’s surface. Most people know the function of metal silicone. Silicon semiconductor materials have boosted the development of the modern electronic industry. In addition, silicate-based inorganic silicon compounds are widely existing in nature, which is very convenient to use. Over thousands of years, people use silicone-related materials to produce cement, glass, ceramics, and other products.

Inorganic silicone compounds have been applied very early to produce products such as glass and ceramics. But organic silicone compounds do not exist in nature. It is mainly by synthesis and was synthesized around 50 years ago. Since industrialization in the 1940s, organic silicone compounds have developed rapidly.

Organic silicon, also known as silicone or siloxane, is a siloxane organic polymer cross-linked from silicon and oxygen. It has good characteristics with excellent heat resistance, cold resistance, oxidation resistance, and electrical insulation, which are not available from other general organic polymers. Among the organic silicon compounds, Poly siloxane has wide applications with its special structural characteristics.

 

Silicone materials are mainly divided into silicone oil (Dimethicone/PDMS/ Dimethyl Silicone Fluid, silicone defoamer, silicone leveling agent, polyether-modified silicone oil), silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silane coupling agent, etc. And there are various silicone material-related products. For example, Dow Corning has more than 4000 kinds of types of silicone materials.  If converted into Poly siloxane, the total global consumption of various silicone products is about 650,000 tons, which accounts for 0.65% of the global total output of different synthetic resin products. In addition, the sales amount of silicone products is as high as $6.5 billion, which accounts for 7% of the global total sales amount of different synthetic resin products.

Silicone can be widely used in the production of silicone fluid, agriculture silicone adjuvant, advanced lubricants, adhesives, dielectric oil, adhesives, paint, anti-foaming agents, gasket, seals as well as spare parts for rockets and missiles. In recent years, silicone material has been applied gradually from military or national defense to people’s daily life. Products for daily application include conductive buttons for computers, mobile phones, and electrical keyboards; contact lenses, swimming glasses, and swimming caps; nipple; silicone sealants for curtainwalls; finishing agent for high-end leather or fabric; silicone oil for shampoo. Silicone material has become a necessary part of people’s daily life. It also becomes a new chemical material with development on its rise.

 

silicone coating

With the prospects of silicone material, many developed countries put silicone materials as one of the most important new materials for the key development of the new century. Organic silicon is new material itself, meanwhile, it is also the new material foundation for the development of related industrial areas. Given the changing nature of organic silicon material and with the characteristics of small volume wide application, it is reputed as the catalyst for scientific and technological development. In the silicone industry, only a few upstream enterprises are on a large scale and most of them are small and medium-sized private enterprises engaged in the production of consumer products and additives.

Main silicone products and their applications

Silicone materials are mainly grouped into four categories: silicone oil with its secondary processing products, silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silane coupling agent. It is known as industrial MSG as silicone products have the properties of electrical insulation, corrosion resistance, radiation resistance, flame resistance, high and low-temperature resistance as well as physiological inertia. They are widely applied in building materials, electronic and electrical products, light industry, textile, plastics, rubber, machinery, transportation, medical and other industries. At present, the global annual production capacity of silicone products has reached more than 1.2 million tons. There are around 5,000 to 10,000 products, and the total market sales can reach US $7 billion.

Among the more than 10,000 kinds of silicone products can be roughly divided into three categories: raw materials, intermediates, and products. Silicone monomer refers to organic silicon polymer monomers synthesized by organic chlorosilane, such as raw materials like benzene chlorosilane, methyl chlorosilane, vinyl dichlorosilane, and some other materials.

Organic silicon intermediates refer to line-type or ring-type siloxane oligomers, such as octamethyl cyclotetra siloxane (D4), hexamethyldisilane (MM), dimethyl cyclosilane mixture (DMC), etc. Silicone products are the products produced by the polymerization reaction with add of inorganic fillers or modified additives. It mainly includes silicone rubber (high-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber and room-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber), silicone oil and its secondary processing products, silicone resin, and silane coupling agent. And through the sulfur molding process, silicone rubber can be made into conductive keys, seal gaskets, swimming caps, and many other consumer products.

Silicone monomer

Although there are many varieties of silicone products, its starting raw materials for production are limited to a few organic silicon monomers. The top amount is trimethylchlorosilane, followed by phenyl chlorosilane. In addition, trimethylchlorosilane, ethyl and propyl chlorosilane, vinyl chlorosilane, etc., are also necessary raw materials in the production of silicone products.

The production of silicon monomers is not complicated. The main raw material for silicon monomer is silicon block, methanol, and hydrogen chloride. At present, methyl hydrochloride monomer is synthesized in a boiling bed reactor. Silicon powder and chloromethane are reacted under a catalyst at a high temperature which makes a methyl hydrochloride mixture. And through efficient fractionation, the target fraction is obtained. Silicone monomers are made by hydrolysis, lysis, and condensation to get different products. With silicon monomer as the raw material and using different polymerization means and processes, different silicone products can be produced by adding various fillers and additives. The basic raw materials for the production of silicone oil, silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silane coupling agent are different kinds of organic silicon monomers. From these basic silicone monomers, thousands of organic silicon products can be produced. Organic silicon monomers mainly include methyl chlorosilane (methyl-monomer), phenyl chlorosilane (benzene-monomer), methyl vinyl chlorosilane, vinyl trichlorosilane, ethyl trichlorosilane, propyl trichlorosilane, γ-chloropropyl trichlorosilane, and fluor silane monomer. Among them, methyl chlorosilane accounts for the top amount, which is 90% of the total monomer, followed by phenyl chlorosilane.

Organo chlorosilane (methyl chlorosilane, phenyl chlorosilane, vinyl chlorosilane) is the basis of the whole silicone industry, and methyl chlorosilane is the pillar in the organic silicone industry. Most of the silicone polymers are Poly dimethyl siloxane made from trimethylchlorosilane. After adding other groups such as phenyl, vinyl, chlorophenyl, fluoroalkyl, etc., the product can meet special needs. The production process of methyl chlorosilane is very long and difficult for production technicians. This industry is technology-intensive and capital-intensive. Therefore, the basic manufacturing site of the major foreign companies is on a large scale and under centralized construction.  While the manufacturing of the downstream product is distributed as per their use and market conditions.

The key to the development of any polymer material is monomer technology development. The feature of the silicone industry is that the monomer production is concentrated, and the further process of silicone products are in different places. Therefore, the production of monomers plays an important role in the silicone industry. And the level of monomer production is a direct reflection of the development of the silicone industry. 

Silicone intermediates

Organic silicon monomers can be made into different silicone intermediates by hydrolysis (or lysis) and lysis. Silicone intermediates are the direct raw material to form silicone rubber, silicone oil, and silicone resin. Silicone intermediates include hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane(D3), octa-ethyl cyclic tetrasiloxane (D4), hexamethyldisilane (MM), dimethyl cyclosiloxane mixture (DMC), and other linear or cyclic dioxide series.

 Silicone rubber

Silicone rubber is one of the important products among silicone polymers. Among all rubber, silicone rubber can work under a wide temperature range, from -100℃~350℃. It is excellent in high and low-temperature resistance. According to its ionization mechanism, silicone rubber has three categories: organic peroxide-induced free radical crosslinking type (High temperature vulcanized silicone), condensation reaction type (Room temperature vulcanized silicone), and addition reaction type. High-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (HTV): thermal vulcanized silicone rubber is also called high-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber. All the direct chain siloxane with molecular weight between 500,000-800,000 is grouped as high-temperature vulcanized rubber. Usually, gum can be made with octa ethyl cyclo tetrasiloxane (D4) as the main raw material and get polymerized under the catalysis of acid or alkali. Then with oxides as a crosslinking agent and combined with different additives (such as reinforcing filler, thermal stabilizer, structural control agent, etc.), it can be made into homogeneous rubber additives. Various rubber products can be vulcanized by molding, extrusion or calendaring, etc.,

Room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber (RTV) and addition reaction silicone rubber (LSR). Room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber refers to the one which uses low molecular weight active Poly Organo siloxane as the base material and can be formed with the crosslinker and catalyst at room temperature.

Addition reaction silicone rubber refers to the silicone rubber which is made under the addition reaction with the platinum compound as catalyst. It has no by-products during the reaction. Usually, it is composed by vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane, silicone resin, low molecular weight polymethyl hydro siloxane, a platinum catalyst, and reaction inhibitor, etc., It is also known as liquid silicone rubber or LSR. Usually, additional reactive silicone rubber is also vulcanized at room temperature (medium temperature), so it is also classified as room temperature sulfide silicone rubber. The above two of these are referred to as room-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber.

 

Room-temperature vulcanized silicone rubber has a low molecular weight (from 10,000 to 80,000), and it is a viscous liquid. As per different package forms, it can be divided into single-component RTV silicone rubber and two-component RTV silicone rubber. Single-component RTV silicone rubber mixes the raw rubber evenly with filler, crosslinker, or catalyst in anhydrous conditions. And it will react with the moisture in the atmosphere after opening. While two-component RTV silicone rubber usually puts the raw rubber and crosslinker agent or catalyst in separate packages. They will link together when mixed in a certain ratio. Its reaction is not related to moisture.

Silicone Oil or Silicone Fluid

silicone oil is a kind of Poly siloxane liquid oil with different viscosity. It is not toxic, not corrosive, has no smell, and is not easy to burn. According to the chemical structure, silicone oil can be divided into methyl silicone oil, phenyl silicone oil, ethyl silicone oil, methyl hydrogen silicone oil, methyl chlorophenyl silicone oil, methyl phenyl silicone oil, methyl ethoxy silicone oil, and methyl trifluoro propane, etc., Among them, methyl silicone oil is the top item. By changing the polymerization degree of Poly siloxane and the type of organic group, or making Poly siloxane polymerized with other organic compounds, silicone oil with different properties can be made, such as waterproofing, anti-adhesion, demolding or defoaming. Silicone oil can also be grouped into linear silicone oil and modified silicone oil.

Silicone oil has many special properties. Its features include low viscosity-temperature coefficient, antioxidant resistance, good resistance to high and low temperature, high flash point, excellent insulation, low volatility, low surface tension, no corrosion to the metal, non-toxic, etc., With these properties, silicone oil has excellent effects in different applications. Among all kinds of silicone oils, methyl silicone oil is the most widely applied and is the most important type followed by methyl phenyl silicone oil. Different functional silicone oils and modified silicone oils are mainly used for special purposes.

 

silicone potting

Silicone resin

Silicone resin is a semi-inorganic polymer with silicon-oxygen-silicon as the main chain and with silicon atoms cross-linked with organic groups. It emerged along with the silicone monomer produced by the silicone monomer. Its production is a half year ahead of silicone oil and silicone rubber.

Silicone resin has outstanding weather resistance, which is better than any other organic resin. Even under strong ultraviolet irradiation, silicone resin still has good yellowing resistance. Silicone also has superior dielectric properties. The property can remain stable in a wide range of temperatures, humidity, and frequency. In addition, it also has good oxidation resistance, irradiation resistance, smoke resistance, waterproof, mildew prevention, and other characteristics.

 

Silane coupling agent

The general formula of the silane coupling agent can be Y-R-SiX3. X and Y are two active groups with different reaction characteristics. X is easy to bind strongly with clay, glass, silica, metal, and metal oxides, while Y is easy to bind with resin and rubber in organic material. With both functional groups that can have a good reaction with organic and inorganic material, a silane coupling agent can bond organic and inorganic material together to reach satisfactory bonding. According to the number of hydrolyzed groups (X groups) connected to silicon atoms, the silane coupling agents can be divided into two groups: trifunctional and difunctional types. In recent years, the production of silane coupling agents is controlled by several giant companies. To form a monopoly, every company has named its product types, and for the same product, there are various names and types on the market. Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is the world’s largest silane coupling agent manufacturer and has the largest number of product varieties. Silane coupling agent was first developed as a glass fiber treatment agent for glass fiber-reinforced plastics. The silane coupling agent has improved the adhesion between the glass fiber and the resin, thus the mechanical properties of the reinforced plastics are significantly improved. With the rapid development of composites, silane coupling agent also develops rapidly both in variety and output. In recent years, silane coupling agent has adopted some specific functional groups and this can improve the surface properties of materials, which get new properties such as antimildew, antistatic, anticoagulation, and physiological inert. This has become a new application for silane coupling agents. Along with the new development, silane coupling agents become an important branch of organic silicone.

Development history of silicone

All compounds containing Si-C bonds are generally called organic silicon compounds. Those that connect organic groups like oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen to silicon atoms are also regarded as organic silicon compounds. Among them, the Poly siloxane composed of silicone oxygen bond (-Si-0-Si-) accounts for the top amount in silicone compounds. It is the most studied and widely applied type in silicone compounds, which is more than 90% of the total. Silicone material has both properties of organic materials and inorganic materials. It has many good properties such as high and low-temperature resistance, ozone resistance, electrical insulation, radiation resistance, flame retardant, water resistance, non-toxic and physiological inertia, and other excellent characteristics. The silicone material is widely applied in electrical, electronics, construction, chemical, textile, medical and other industries. The main functions of silicone include sealing, adhesion, encapsulation, lubrication, coating, lamination, surface activity, releasing, anti-foaming, crosslinking, waterproofing, penetrating, insertion and filling, etc. With the continuous development of the quantity and varieties of silicone material, it has become one of the most important materials in the new chemical material field. Many varieties of silicone are unable to be replaced by other chemicals.

 

silicone factory

Different phases of silicone chemistry

Beginning period: In 1863, French scientists Fiddle and Kraft heated silicon tetrachloride and zinc diethyl to 160℃ in a sealing tube and synthesized the first silicone compound, which is tetraethyl silane with Si-C bonds. Since then, much more tetraethyl silane derivatives have been synthesized. The forty years from 1863 to 1903 was the founding period of silicone chemistry, which was also referred to as the first phase

 

Growing period: From 1904 to 1937, there are many simple silicone compounds were synthesized. Meanwhile, some ring and linear Poly siloxane (with-Si-0-Si-bonds as the backbone). From the theoretical aspect, the synthesis of asymmetric silicon atomic compounds has been started, which created circumstances for the study of silicone photoactive isoforms. These 30 years were referred to as the growing period of silicone chemistry, which is also called the second phase.

Development period: Chemist Hyde from Corning as well as Patnode and Rojo from General Electronics realized that silicone polymer would have a good future, and they have actively improved the synthesis of silicone monomer. This helped the industrialization of silicone. In particular, Rojo invented the direct synthesis method for methyl chlorosilane in 1941. This was a revolution in the production of silicone and was a good foundation for the large-scale production of silicone compounds. In the 1940s, when some of the major countries realized industrialization, the equilibrium reaction methods of Poly organic siloxane were invented. And a complete system of industrial technologies was established. Different types of silicone oil, silicone rubber, silicone resin, and silane coupling agent with excellent performance have emerged. The development of the silicone industry was accelerated. The period from 1938 to1965 was called the third phase.

Boom period: Since 1966, further, consolidating, developing, improving, and utilizing the existing achievements, silicone was also developing in the new field. Some compounds which were impossible to make can also be synthesized. One of the groups with the fastest development is silicon —— metal bonding compounds. Especially chemical products formed by silicon and transition elements, and this has more practical value. And silicone chemistry has yielded fruitful results. So, the period from 1966 has been called the fourth phase.

 

The development of science has promoted the development of production and construction. And the production in turn has new requirements for scientific research. In many industries, thermal resistance is needed. But normal organic polymers cannot meet the demands. Natural silicate is long known but its -Si-0-Si- bond is fragile. Therefore, chemists introduced silicon atoms with an organic group, which can make them a linear structure or low-degree crosslinked polymer. Thus, the silicone material can form flexible or elastic material, and the application would be further enlarged. The study on Organo Poly siloxane also started. Chemist Hyde from Corning Glass first combined silicone and polymer chemistry and gained experience in silicone polymerization. Under his guidance, silicone resin was produced for electronic insulated glass cloth. From 1938 and 1941, Hyde and his collaborators developed many more Poly organic siloxane products. Meanwhile, Dow Chemical also started the study and production of Poly organic siloxane. In 1942, a dimethyl silicone oil and toluene silicone pilot plant was established.

In 1943, Dow combined with Corning glass and established the world-famous Dow-Corning Chemical. They built the synthetic Poly siloxane factory in Midland. And soon they developed DC4 ignition sealing material, which was applied on aerial aircraft in World War II. Then Dow Corning Chemical gradually became one of the world’s largest professional manufacturers of silicone products.

In the past 20 years, the application of silicone technology has achieved a brilliant level. Room temperature vulcanized silicone rubber and silane coupling agents got comprehensive development. Silicone polymer for biological and medical use also emerged. Now, many more silicone compounds were invented for a wide application. Many impossible things can be realized now due to the development of silicone material

 

From an annual output of 10,000 tons in 1997 to about 850,000 tons per year in 2015, methyl chlorosilane has a rapid development, which is top among all the monomers. In the future, with methyl chlorosilane production capacity increasing, the organic silicon industry will have further development in technology, with both capacity and quality getting onto a new level.

chemical plant

Chemical prices plunged in China market

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The price of thermal coal has dropped from its highest price of USD312/mt on October 19 to USD166 /mt in the China market. The price is almost down by 47%, nearly half. The price drop of thermal coal also dragged down the price of coal chemicals. Meanwhile, this dropping trend also inspires the spot market The price of PVC, methanol, styrene, isobutylol, and new glutaradiol has a sharp downward trend, which makes a surprise in the market.

 

chemical plant

The price of coal chemical products has fallen sharply with the collapse of the coal price

With the Chinese government taking all measures to maintain a steady supply of coal and electricity power, the coal price has dropped accordingly. And this also becomes the key reason for the sudden price dropping in chemicals and other chemical raw materials. Epoxy resin has had a continuous sharp increase in the past months. But its price has lowered recently. The price of solid epoxy resin is USD4200/MT, which is USD300/MT lower than one week ago. With the price dropping, the downstream customers are expecting loa lower price of USD4100 or a lower price of USD3950. And this also makes the market transaction atmosphere weak.

In addition to the epoxy resin, many other chemicals such as epoxy chlorpropamide, phosphate, yellow phosphorus, and butadiene have a price decline after China’s gold nine silver ten sales season. since early November, prices began to decrease. The price has plunged more than USD1300/MT on week from USD5080 to USD3780/mt. This makes the whole chemical industry into winter beforehand. The price of DMC was USD6300/mt, down by USD1000/mt from the previous week, and the price of silicone oil (Polydimethylsiloxane) was USD6500/mt, which is 34% down from the highest point. Also, The PVC futures has fallen five times by the daily limit. With the future price continuing to weaken, it is negative for the spot market. And now the quotation of PVC in the n future market and spot market two weak spot markets was in chaos. In some regions, the price of PVC has dropped to less than 140000/MT. Under the suppression of falling futures prices, traders are selling stocks immediately.

From the current series of actions of restraining unreasonable price increases of bulk commodities, the price increase expectation of chemical raw materials in the next six months is very limited, and most products will gradually return to a reasonable range.

With the impact of the price reduction news, real order is very limited when some enterprises quote at a high price. The less transaction also dragged the market down and the expectation of transactions is weakening. Some Industry experts said that one of the reasons for the price decrease is that the newly expanded production capacity leads to an obvious supply increment. And the buyers have a strong bearish mood on the transaction with the supply and demand imbalance.

 

Chemical products

40 chemical products have a drop in price with a decrease of more than USD130/MT 

With the continuously increased ease in the recent chemical market, there are many chemicals with sudden price drops. And many of them are the products with hot increase and reach their historic highest point. This rapid change has made buyers unpredictable.

The price of liquid ammonia was USD620/MT, and there is a price drop of USD130/MT 20% less compared to early August. With the impact of enterprise maintenance and shortage of domestic goods, liquid ammonia experienced a soaring market in mid-to-late July.  But the increase didn’t last long, and the price of liquid ammonia continued to decrease. With the poor traffic situation and high inventory caused by the epidemic, together with the high output at high operating, as well as less demand, the price of liquid ammonia dropped again and again.

Previously, the price of trichloromethane had started a speeding process. The price soared to USD546/MT, and even over USD635/MT. There was a single-day increase of 8.7%, which was the highest one-day increase in the past 10 years. But with the high-temperature weather cooling down, the demand from the refrigerant market becomes weak, domestic sales and foreign trade are not as expected, and its raw material liquid chlorine price is low. With all these impacts, trichloromethane prices dropped by 16% from early August.

Since the beginning of 2021, the price of PTA cost-end crude oil and PX has been increasing, and its auxiliary material acetic acid also has had a significant increase. Till the end of July, the PTA price was more than USD800/MT and some large-scale factories even cut orders due to insufficient supply. However, with the operation of new PTA devices, the supply will increase. And now the domestic PTA price has dropped below USD710/MT. Its price has dropped by 13% compared with the beginning of August.

Due to the influence of the Shanxi flood, many urea factories in Jincheng stopped production. With the reduction of the market inventory and other multiple positive factors, the domestic urea spot market had a rise, and the loareaurea prices hit a new high. But with the end of peak agricultural season, and the industrial demand is insufficient, the market trend of urea is depressed. The price even drooped two times in one day. To ensure order volumes, the big factories have offered preferential price policies. Thus, the actual transaction price is much lower than expected, and the price decreased by USD60/MT or 12.37% from the beginning of August.

The export market of domestic MMA has expanded rapidly, and the monthly export volume has reached new highs. With more MMA export, fewer imports, and less output, the market inventory of MMA in China market has decreased sharply, and the price has exceeded USD2222/MT. But by the end of Oct., the buyers are mostly watching, and the negotiations were deadlocked. And the price is down by USD270/MT from the beginning of August with a drop of around 11%.

Iso octanol prices had soared to USD2950/MT, up by 156% from the same period last year. While due to the weakened raw material price, and the supply increase, its prices also fell slightly. The newest offer is now decreased by USD200/MT with a decrease of 6.9% from early august.

The price of ethylene glycol has rushed to USD950/MT at a new high. But due to the rapid decrease in the downstream polyester end. The market expectation is not optimistic. Along with the supply recovery, the tight market inventory situation has finished. Its current price is down by USD60/MT at around 6% from early August.

It is reported that Wanhua Chemical, BASF, Shanghai Hensmai, and Dow Chemical have all raised the price of MDI products. The supply of MDI is also tightening, and its prices have increased from June 2021, soaring from USD1900/MT to USD4500/MT. This price is almost the highest in nearly three years. But recently the MDI market atmosphere turned weak, and the price can be negotiated. The current market offer has decreased by USD200/MT around 5.64% from early August.

Ethyl acetate prices reached USD1450/MT and are highest in a decade. But the recent transaction price of the main factories has declined, and the trading atmosphere is not positive. The current price is down by USD80/MT and is around 4.91% lower compared with early August. The ethyl acetate in China market may continue to weaken in short term.

In the silicone industry, the price is decreasing continuously since early November. DMC price has dropped to USD4900/MT, which is almost half of the price from the highest point last month. With the DMC price plunging, the price of dimethicone silicone oil and 107 RTV also dropped. The newest silicone oil PDMS price is around USD6900/MT. The sudden price drop makes the procurement stop the purchase and those who bought at higher prices would have a stock loss.

In the titanium dioxide industry, with the winter coming, construction coating consumption is decreasing. And the main market price of Rutile titanium dioxide like Lemon 996 is USD 3,200/MT. Other brands have a price of USD3100 to USD3300. with the demand weakening, the price of titanium dioxide can be negotiated as per the orders.

The organic pigment price also stopped increasing and some item has a slight price drawback. The price of pigment yellow 74 has dropped from USD10.95/kg to USD10.50/kg. Products like Pigment Yellow 12 and Pigment Yellow 13 also stopped for a further increase.

A collection of the price declines of different chemical products

The price of dimethyl carbonate was USD 1370/MT, down by USD 740/MT from the previous week.

The phosphate price was USD2000/MT, down by USD690/MT from the previous week.

The liquid epoxy resin was quoted at USD5000/MT, down by USD630/mt from the previous week.

The price of propylene glycol was USD3450/MT, down by USD330/MT from the previous week.

DMF was quoted at USD2570/MT, down by USD280/MT from the previous week.

Butadiene was quoted at USD1060/MT, down by USD250/MT from the previous week.

MMA was quoted at USD1960/MT, down by USD20/MT from the previous week.

The price of natural anhydride was USD 2400/MT, down by USD 130/MT from the previous week.

Liquid chlorine price was USD200/MT, down by USD110/MT the previous week.

The caustic soda price was USD190/MT, down by USD60/MT from the previous week.

Phenol was quoted at USD1500/MT, down by USD60/MT from the previous week.

The PTA was quoted USD770/MT, down by USD56/mt from the previous week.

 

From the above data, it is not difficult to see that the recent decline in chemical products mainly focuses on the previous chemical products with a sharp increase, such as hydroxybenzene, ethylene glycol, polymerized MDI, ethyl acetate, etc. This is also in line with the previous market analysis which says that chemical products would not always be on the rising side and would come down after it reaches the peak.

chemical news

 

Why do the prices of chemical products plunge?

The sudden plunge in tin prices of chemical products, the experts say is related to the recent huge changes in the chemical industry chain. The supply and demand situation between coal and other energy terminals is quietly changing. The downstream demand is lessening, and goods transportation is blocked in some regions due to heavy snow. All the different reasons jointly lead to the diving of chemical product prices.

With the upstream raw material, coal price has halved, and the pressure on the chemical enterprises has been lessened to some degree. But the complex downstream situation still makes chemical enterprises anxious. With the end of the year getting closer and closer, the dual control policy on energy consumption is also becoming stricter. With the power limit, the order of downstream industries such as coating, plastics, clothing and textile, foreign trade processing industry, and other industries are suppressed. So, the transaction atmosphere in the market is not positive.

With the accumulation of inventory, the price has a trend of moving downward. With the temperature drop in the fourth quarter, the production and sales of many industries have entered into the off-season, and they have resistance to the high cost of upstream raw materials. At the same time, with the mentality of buying at the use and not buying at decreasing, the purchase is very limited and a shrinkage in the transaction is very obvious. With downstream customers continuing to negotiate for discount prices, the market transaction is at a dead block. With the transaction pressure and pessimistic views on the market, some chemical enterprises have prices continuously.

Some chemical enterprises said that for the last two months of 2021, the focus is no longer on securing more orders but to maintain a stable capital chain. With the uncertain industry situation, chemical enterprises choose to stabilize the old customers. For the new customers, they will only receive cash orders. They may also limit production and sales to avoid risks and maintain a stable capital chain to the greatest extent. Prices are no longer the key at the present. How to ensure to pass the winter safely and continue to spend in 2022 is the key.

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How is the impact of power limit on the chemical industry

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Recently, the Dual Control System of Total Energy Consumption and Energy Intensity has lit a Red Light in many provinces of China. The provinces named by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology have taken measures to solve the energy consumption problem since there are only 4 months to the year’s end. Guangdong, Jiangsu, and other major chemical provinces made strict policies to limit using of electricity and limit production to thousands of enterprises. Why there are energy limits and production limits? What impacts will it have on China’s chemical industry?

Many provinces pull the plug, cut the power, and limit the production

Recently, many provinces such as Jiangsu, Guangdong, Yunnan, Qinghai, Ningxia, Henan, Chongqing, Guangxi, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and others started to carry out power control measures for dual-energy consumption to meet control targets. Electricity restriction measure has gradually spread from the central and western regions of China to the eastern Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, etc.

Henan: The electricity limit will be for more than three weeks for some processing enterprises

Sichuan: Suspension of non-necessary production load, lighting load, and office load.

Chongqing: Some factories cut power and stopped production in early August.

Inner Mongolia: The electricity price would be increased by not more than 10%.

Qinghai: An early warning of the power limit is announced, and the area of the power limit continues to expand.

Ningxia: The power for high-level energy-consuming enterprises will be limited for a month.

Shaanxi: The power limit will be extended to the end of the year. Yulin city will limit the production of dual high enterprises to the level of 50-60%,

Yunnan: Two rounds of power limit have been launched. The average monthly output of industrial silicon from September to December shall be limited to less than 10% of August output (i.e., 90% reduction); the average monthly output of yellow phosphorus shall be limited to 10% of August 2021 output (i.e., 90% reduction).

Guangxi: Guangxi has introduced new dual control measures, requiring enterprises with the production of electrolytic aluminum, aluminum oxide, steel, and cement to limit their production starting from September

Shandong: there is a power limit of 9 hours daily, mainly from 15:00-24:00, the shortcoming time continued to September, and the power limit measures would be implemented

Jiangsu: In early September, the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology carried out special energy conservation supervision for enterprises with more than 50,000 tons of standard coal annually. In the cluster area of printing and dyeing, more than 1,000 enterprises will produce for two days and stop production for two days.

Zhejiang: Production will be stopped for the key energy-consuming enterprises until September 30.

Anhui: There is a power shortage of 2.5 million kilowatts, and it is decided to start an orderly electricity consumption plan from September 22.

Guangdong: From September 16, the electricity plan work for two days and stopped for 5 days was implemented

Reasons for a power cut and production limit or shutdown

 

In essence, the power cut is due to the shortage of coal and power. The national coal output is almost the same in as 2019, but the power generation is increasing. The coal inventory of various power plants is significantly in recent years. The reasons behind the coal shortage are as follows:

1. In the early coal supply-side reform, open-air coal mines and some small coal mines with safety problems were closed. With good coal demand this year, the coal supply was quite tight.

2. The export is very good this year, and the electricity consumption from light industry enterprises and the low-end manufacturing industry is rising. But the power plants consume large amounts of coal. The high price of coal has increased the production cost of power plants, which makes power plants at a deficit.

3. The import of coal has changed from Australia to other countries. There is an increase in the import cost and global coal is also at a high price.

Following is a diagram oChina’sna coal output in recent years

Coal output

 

Why not expand the coal supply, but rather limit the power?

The total power generation in 2021 is not low. In the first half of the year, 20-year earnings generated 3,871.7 billion kilowatt-hours, which is twice that of the United States. Meanwhile, China’s export has increased extremely rapidly this year.

 

According to the data released by the General Administration of Customs, China’s total import and export of foreign trade reached 3.43 trillion yuan in August, up by 18.9% compared to 2020. And the positive growth has been last for 15 consecutive months in the first eight months of 2021, China’s total imports and exports reached 24.78 trillion yuan, up by 23.7% year on year and 22.8% over the same period in 2019.

 

The reason for the export increase is that affected by the epidemic, the production in many countries is not normal, so the production task in China increases. With the increase in export, the demand for raw materials also increased. The import of commodities products also soared. From the end of 2020, the increase in steel price is caused by the price increase of iron ore and iron fine powder which are imported from other countries. The main production means in the manufacturing industry are raw materials and electricity. With the production task increases, China’s electricity demand continues to increase. Why not expand the coal supply, but instead limit electricity? On the one hand, the demand for power generation is increasing, while the cost of power generation is also increasing. Since the beginning of 2021, the supply and demand of domestic coal continues to be tight. The price of thermal coal is high during the low season. Coal prices have risen sharply and maintained a high level. With the high price, the production and sales costs of power enterprises are seriously inverted. And the operating pressure of power enterprises is prominent. According to the data of CLP, the unit cost of standard coal for large power generation groups has increased by 50.5% year on year. But the electricity price has remained the same. The loss of coal power enterprises was significantly increased, and the whole industry is at the loss. It is estimated that the loss of every power generation will exceed 0.1 yuan for every 1 watt. And 100 million kilowatts will lose at least 10 million yuan. For large power generation enterprises, their monthly loss will be over 10000 million yuan. On the one hand, the coal price remains high, on the other hand, the price of electricity is controlled by the government. So, it is difficult for power plants to have a balance. Thus, some power plants would rather generate less electricity. On the other hand, achieving the completion of industrial transformation requirements is urgent. China has to eliminate backward production capacity and implement supply-side reform. To realize the dual-carbon target and environmental protection need, as well as another important aim which is to realize industrial transformation. This is to change from traditional energy-cost production to emerging energy-saving production. In recent years, China has been working to reach this goal. But from last year, due to the epidemic, the demand and task of high energy-consuming products under high have increased. With the epidemic raging and global manufacturing stalled, large manufacturing orders are returning to the mainland. This leads to high consumption of power in the first 3 quarters of 2021. Also, the price of raw materials, which price is dominated by international capital has soared in 2021 leading to a high production cost. In addition, for domestic and global environmental protection, China will need efficient production capacity in the future. To reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of traditional industries, large-scale technological innovation and device transformation are needed. Thus, in short term, achieving the dual control goal, power, and production limit is a way for traditional industries to achieve the goal. In addition, the inflation risks can be prevented tons a certain degree with the high soaring global price of iron, copper, oil, grain, and beans.

 

The Chinese government has been working hard for dual control of energy consumption for environmental protection. Due to the orders back to China from the inning of 2021, the busy production has totaled a high-power consumption which is out of the excitation. After the review for the first 3 quarters, the energy consumption in many provinces is much higher. The consumption for the last 3 quarters already reaches the amount for the whole year.   The main energy-consuming projects are mainly in six industries, including petrochemical, coal power, chemical, steel, and non-ferrous metal smelting building materials. With the over-consumed energy and power, many provinces have adopted the production and power limit policy and these lead to the enterprises feeling unprepared.

 

What is the effect on the different industries?

 

With the background of sudden power and production limit from provincial governments, the chemical industry index has a sharp rise, different chemical raw materials have soared in price, and many related stock-listed companies also have the daily raising limit frequently. According to the Business agency, the chemical index was 1137 on September 1 and 1262 on September 30. This is a record high in the cycle.  Compared with the lowest point of 598 points on Apri08, 202020, the index has risen by 111.04%. (Note: Period to 2011-12-01 till)

 

The new high price in the chemical industry is mainly due to the dual control and power restriction policy. As there are 9 provinces and autonomous regions whose energy consumption was much up in the first 3 quarter year on year! And another 10 provinces’ energy consumption reduction rate cannot meet the requirements. This means the target of dual control is not reached in the first half year. So, every province has the heavy task to take new measures to ensure the realization of the whole year’s target.

In 2020, due to COVID-19, global economic activities have been greatly affected. the poor demand leads to the low prices of crude oil and bulk chemicals downstream. While in 2021, with the gradual control of the epidemic and recovery of global business, education has recovered much, and demand also increase. As per the monitoring industry data of the business agency, it can be seen that the price of many chemical sub-industries has increased in 2021, and some are up by more than 100% year on year.

 

As per the data, the price of 79 kinds of products in the chemical sector increased on September 2 with 021, 57 of them increasing more than 5%. the top three commodities with price increases were phosphate (161.44%), yellow phosphorus (108.70%,) and caustic soda (90.00%).

There were 18 products with price declines, and 6 products down by more than 5%. The top 3 declines were butadiene (-33.32%), butanol (industrial grade) (-33.62%), and Iso octanol (-30.90%).

 

Product Industry Early Sep., price Late Sep., price Unit Monthly increase or decrease
Phosphoric acid Chemical 1195.3125 3125 USD/MT 161.44%
Yellow Phosphorus Chemical 4492.1875 9375 USD/MT 108.70%
Caustic Soda Chemical 101.5625 192.96875 USD/MT 90%
DMC(Silicone) Chemical 5859.375 9890.625 USD/MT 68.80%
R134A Chemical 3489.53125 5755.15625 USD/MT 64.93%
Silicone Adjuvant Chemical 5300 8700 USD/MT 64.15%
Acetic anhydride Chemical 1507.8125 2335.9375 USD/MT 54.92%
Epichlorohydrin Chemical 2260.3125 3317.65625 USD/MT 46.77%
Acrylic Acid Chemical 2307.1875 2869.6875 USD/MT 24.36%
Propylene Glycol Chemical 2666.5625 3296.875 USD/MT 23.63%
Rutile Titanium Dioxide Chemical 3050 3200 USD/MT 4.92%

 

In September, the price of phosphorus chemical price has reached a ten-year high. Except the phosphorus ammonium market remains stable at a high price, phosphate and phosphate ore have a sharp increase after yellow phosphorus. Under the dual control policy, yellow phosphorus-related enterprises have serious limits in electricity and production capacity, thus the tight market supply situation cannot be changed in a short time. But till the end of September, most phosphorus chemical products have risen to a high level. Downstream enterprises need to be more cautious for take in new raw materials. In general, there could be a certain pullback in the phosphorus chemical, but in a short time, it may remain at a high price.

 

Besides phosphorous chemicals, the acetic acid industry also has a big increase in September. The price of acetate products rose by 47.69%. Its upstream raw material methanol has increased by 37.86%. And downstream acetic anhydride by 54.92%, EVA increased by 38.82%, ethyl acetate by 25.23%, and PTA by 3.49%. Affected by the dual control policy, many acetic acid industry chain enterprises have stopped production and price has increased much. After the China National Holiday, with the production recovery in October, the supply and demand of the acetate industry chain have been eased. According to the statistics of the production plan of the acetic industry, the supply growth in October is expected to be more than the growth of demand, and the price of the acetate industry is expected to drop some in October.

 

In addition, the price of the Chlor-alkali sector in the chemical industry has also increased, with caustic soda rising by 90% in September, calcium carbide by 39.45%, PVC by 34.45%, and soda by 34.05%. With the dual control policy, the production capacity of the chlorine-alkali industry in October is expected to be relatively low. With the relatively tight supply and the high price of raw materials, it is expected that the prices of soda, caustic soda, and baking soda would be stable at a high level. The actual situation will be depended on the demand.

 

Besides the basic chemical, chemical products such as organic pigments (Pigment Red 122, Pigment Violet 19, Pigment Yellow 74, Pigment Yellow 12), Anatase titanium Dioxide, Silicone leveling agents, Dimethicone, and optical brighteners all have price increases at different ranges.

 

The recent large-scale power restriction would have a big impact on the manufacturing industry, and long-term environmental protection policies still exist, the price rise of commodity prices will be transmitted downstream, which will squeeze the profit and living space of the downstream enterprise. In addition, the control of the high energy consumption industry is a long-term trend, so the short-term policy will only affect the production limit time and the trend for energy saving will not be changed. Therefore, with the inflation risk in the fourth quarter, the traditionally high-demanded months will lead to a further price increase of chemical products. in the background of a global energy shortage, product prices have e rising trend, but the height of the chemical market would be subject to the demand situation.

Silicone Adjuvants for fruits and vegetables

Why are silicone agriculture adjuvants important in agrochemical?

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Pesticides play a significant role in the production of stable crops output and are  important in agricultural production. The application of pesticides is a common in agricultural production.With the improvement of people’s living standards and the development of society, food safety, production safety and environmental safety has get more and more attention from different parties. Like in China, government has carried out a plan of zero growth in pesticide use.

The zero increase in pesticide is mainly in two aspects. On one side, the using amount of pesticide has dropped, and one the other side the pesticide utilization rate has improved. Early, manual sprayers were mainly used in China for single farmers, and the amount of spary was large, but the prevention effect was not so good and the utilization rate was only around 25%, as most of the pesticides are lost to the air or soil.

While in recent years, the application of silicone adjuvant has taken changes in the pesticides formulation and application technology. With its outstanding effect in permeability, expansion, wetting, foaming, foam suppression, bubble stabilization and good compatibility performance, the utilization rate and prevention rate has been improved significantly. Thus, the using amount of pesticides can be reduced by 30%-50%. The add of silicone adjuvant in agriculture pesticides also save water, lessen pesticide residues, and reduce laber cost. And now agriculture adjuvant are widely applied in the agriculture production.

 

Today, from the characteristics and application of silicone adjuvants, it is hoped that the users can have a deep understanding of silicone adjuvants and to make reasonable use of it. This can help reduce agricultural production costs and improve the effectiveness.

adjuvants for fruits

Excellent performance of silicone adjuvants

The properties of agriculture silicone adjuvants mainly include the following three aspects: wetting, expansion and permeability.

1. Excellent wetting properties

Moisture resistance structure of composition is very normal in plant leaves, plant stems and insect epidermis. And on the surface of leaf, there is a negative charge, which makes pesticide liquid repellent and not easy to wet. Normally, when the pesticide spray has lower surface tension than that of leaf, the spray can moisten the leaf surface easily. On the contract, the pesticide spray will gather on the plant surface if its surface tension is higher, thus, the droplets of spray will concentrate on the leaf and roll down.

Silicone adjuvant has very low surface tension. After adding it into pesticide, it can make the pesticide spray moisten all the leaf surface and insect epidermis very easily. It can largely increase the contact surface of pesticide liquid to the target organisms, lessen the loss of pesticides and improve the utilization rate

 2. Superior expansion

The agriculture silicone adjuvant has superior expansion performance. After adding the silicone adjuvant into pesticide liquid, the area of expansion is around 10 times of the one without the silicone adjuvant. This superior expansion can make the pesticide liquid attached on the foliar and even make it onto the pests hidden in the fruit gap. Thus there can be direct contact of the spray liquid and pests may be killed.

3. Prime permeability

Stoma is one of the main approaches where the pesticide liquid spray permeate into the plant. Silicone adjuvants can help the pesticide liquid penetrate into the epidermis through the stoma easily. Also the absorption rate can be faster. Some studies show that silicone adjuvant has effective synergism on veramycin. It can take the pesticide liquid into the microscopic hiding place of pests. Then the pesticide liquid with silicone adjuvant will be absorbed by the leaf surface and get into the plant epidermis. It can also prolong the staying period of pesticide liquid, which is longer than pesticide liquid with mineral oil adjuvant.

Application of silicone adjuvants in pesticides

 

Silicone adjuvants can be used in pesticides as spray amendments, foliar absorptive aids or activators, etc. And it can be applied together with pesticides, herbicides, foliar fertilizer,or growth regulators.

1.Application in pesticides or herbicides

Silicone adjuvants are added into pesticides or herbicides. The herbicide solution is sprayed onto the leaves and stems of weeds, it will quickly penetrate into the cuticle and cytoplasmic membrane, and then transmitted to all the other parts of plant. After weeds get injury, the leaves and stems will deform and get dead. This can effectively improve the grass killing rate and prevention efficiency. This also contribute to the water saving and labor saving.

2.Application in foliar fertilizer

Foliar fertilizer is an efficient and fast way to supply nutrients to the plants. But foliar fertilization is not easy to penetrate into plants due to the impermeability of the plant epidermis to inorganic nutrient ions. So the infiltration through stoma is a good way for foliar fertilization. The adding of silicone adjuvants can improve the absorption of plants through stoma permeability and thus strengthen the fertilizer utilization rate.

3.Application in growth regulators

Silicone adjuvants can reduce the using amount and improve the using effect. For example, eryamycin is widely applied in citrus, but can easily antagonize with citrus. The use of agriculture silicone adjuvant can largely improve the function of  eryamycin and the using amount can be reduced to 10%. The adding of agriculture silicone adjuvant to enolazole can improve its efficacy and moisture, as well as reduce the using amount and cost of enolazole.

4. Application in insecticide and mite killer

The stoma of insects is extremely similar to the foliar ones.The silicone adjuvant can reduce the surface tension of the insecticide solution, help the spray solution penetrate into the insect trachea. This is very meaningful for the insecticide aid and synergist.For example, with the add of silicone adjuvant, the effect of 45g /hm2 20% buthiok budweiser emulsion is same as that of 75g/hm2. This can significantly lessen the field dose of buthiok budweiser emulsion by 20%.

How to use silicone adjuvant efficiently

1.Suitable dosage of silicone adjuvant

At the condition of normal temperature of 25℃ and moisture 60%, The add of 0.5% -0.1% silicone adjuvant into herbicide solution, the using amount of silicone adjuvant can be decreased by 30%, but with similar effects as conventional dosage of herbicides. Under drought conditions, The adding of 0.1% silicone adjuvant into herbicide solution can obtain stable herbicide effect.

In pesticides and fungicide spray, the adding amount of silicone adjuvants is around 0.025% to 0.5% -0.1%. The spray with silicone adjuvants can increase droplet retention time, improve droplet dispersion and absorption. Thus the efficacy can be improved.

The adding amount of silicone adjuvant into plant growth regulator is 0.025%-0 .05%. And the amount of fertilizer and trace elements are 0.015% -0.1% of the growth regulator spray. This can help improve efficacy and fertility.

2.Using Principles (Scope of Use) of silicone adjuvants

The silicone adjuvant have good work in the formulation. But its price is also higher than other adjuvants The global brand of silicone adjuvant sells at high price and the cost from China brand is like half of Momentive or Dow. So, during the use, users have to pay attention on the using principles to have good effects with less cost.

 

1.Apply to the crops that is difficult to wet and less use on the easy moistened crops

For crops easy to be wet, such as celery, rape, spinach, beans, tomato, pepper and other fruits and vegetables, there is no need to use silicone adjuvant. As the use of conventional adjuvants can meet the requirements of wetting crops.For wax crops that are not easy yo be wet, silicone adjuvants are encouraged to be used. Wax crops include rice, wheat, cabbage, finch wheat and weeds without leaves. The use of silicone adjuvants can improve the effect of the spray.

adjuvants for vegetables

2.Suitable for crops with hidden insect pests and diseases

For fruits like litchi, longan and grapes or vegetables like broccoli with hidden pests or germs, the adding to silicone adjuvants can make the pesticide spray better penetrating and spreading on the fruit gaps and leaves. So it can achieve the effects of eliminating pests or controlling germs.

 3.Suitable for crops in rainy areas

In the rainy areas, the use of silicone adjuvants can maximize the wetting and spreading of pesticide spray. Also, it can enhance surface permeability, improve its resistance to rain washing, and greatly reduce possibility of the loss of expensive pesticide as well as  decrease agricultural costs.

4.Suitable for UV sensitive pesticides or spray under strong summer light

For pesticides such as amimectin and methine amimectin benzoate, they are sensitive to ultraviolet light. The silicone adjuvants have super and rapid spreading capacity and can make almost instant stoma absorption. This can avoid photolysis, rapid evaporation and drying of the pesticide spray, and help in promoting the absorption of silicone adjuvants.

5.Pay attention to reasonable mixing

The use of some agriculture additives suppresses silicone effects; there are different additives used in the pesticide formulation. Some emulsifiers are antagonistic with silicone adjuvants and can not be used together. For example, acid compound emulsifiers such as 2201 # and 0206B# are suggested not to use together with silicone adjuvant as it is unfavourable to silicon-oxygen bond stability.

 

Notes for Use of Pesticide Silicone Adjuvants

The concentration and using amount should be strictly controlled. The appropriate concentration of silicone adjuvants with different kinds of pesticides is: herbicide 0.025% -0.15%, insecticide 0.025% -0.1%, fungicide 0.015% -0.05%,  plant growth regulator 0.025% -0.05%. The using amount with some powerful pesticides and herbicides should be reduced to prevent pesticide damage.

The spray cannot be used under high temperature conditions. If the temperature is over 30℃, it is better not to add silicone adjuvants when spraying pesticide. At this moment, the crop stoma is highly open, and the silicone adjuvant activity is very strong. And this strong permeability can cause harm to crops. If to spray the pesticide on the fruit trees, do not spray it directly on the fruit. To prevent rust points or rust spots, it is better to spray the pesticide after the fruit is bagged.

It is better spay the pesticide once after the silicone adjuvant is mixed together with it. silicone adjuvants are easily to be decomposed in both acid and alkali conditions and most pesticide preparations are obviously acidic. So, it is suggested to use pesticide on spot after mixed with silicone adjuvants.

Add certain volume of defoaming agent,.The silicone adjuvant is relatively active and easy to produce excessive foam. During the application, it is suggested to be added to the pesticide bucket of the sprayer at last to avoid excessive mixing. This can reduce the foaming amount. Also the adding of defoaming agent also helps.

 

Summary of silicone adjuvants in agriculture

There are different silicone adjuvant products available in the market. We should choose the silicone adjuvants that have trisiloxane active ingredient higher than 90% to ensure its excellent performance.

The silicone adjuvants have very low surface tension, super spreading ability and rapid absorption through stoma.Reasonable use of silicone adjuvants can reduce the using amount of pesticide, improve the utilization rate of pesticides, reduce production costs, and lessen the environmental pollution of pesticides.

However, everything has two aspects. With improper use of silicone adjuvants, it can cause drug harm to the crops. For example, the wax layer of some leaves is thin, if the using concentration is increased to get better penetrating effect can cause drug harm. In addition, the silicone surface tension is very low and has strong permeability. After entering into the water, it is toxic to the fish and easy to damage the gill function. So it better to prevent the flow of farm water into the breeding pond, thus the fish in the pond can be survived from the drug harm from the improper use.

Therefore, in the use of silicone adjuvants, we must bear in mind the using amount, the using note, and the using principles of silicone adjuvants. We should apply the silicone adjuvants as per its characteristics, and play its important role in the formulation. With the right instruction of silicone adjuvants, it is believed that they can have good performance in the controling of pests, lower farmer’s cost as well as protect the environment. The different supplying choices from China silicone adjuvant producers also make the cost lower but with the similar application effects.

 

crop

What is a pesticide silicone surfactant or silicone adjuvant?

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Agirculture additive has a strong potential market increase in recent years. By 2023, The growth of the global agricultural additives market will come from USD 3.13 billion in 2018 to USD 4.04 billion, and the compound annual growth rate is 5.24%. The market increase is due to the the popularity of global integrated pest management,the improvement of pesticide quality, the development of green additives solutions, and the limit requirements on crop residues. Surfactant accounts the biggest market share in agricultural additives and among the surfactant, silicone agriculture adjuvant is the top increasing group. As per some datas, the silicone agriculture adjuvant will have highest increasing till year 2023. The development of silicone agriculture adjuvant has changed the situation of agriculture additive field.  In the past few years, there are more than 50 different items got registration in USA and Canada. The demand and good feedback on silicone agriculture adjuvants also stimulated the global market demand on it. The crop protection company is also considering the use of silicone raw material in the developing of new products and biological acaricides, etc.

 

The North America market is the biggest market for agriculture additives, with the participation of top global brands like Dupont, Huntsman, Helena, and Momentive. In the Asia pacific market, with more investors in China, India and Thailand, the agriculture additive and silicone agriculture adjuvant will have high compound annual increase in Asia pacific market.

 

Why agriculture adjuvant is need in the crop protection?

In the crop growing process, pesticides and herbicides are necessary. But there is certain side effects in using them. One is environmental pollution, and the other is the cost. In the using of pesticides in large scale, it will lead to environmental pollution with pesticides residue. This wil affect the eco enviroment as well as health of people. If the dosage is too low, the insecticidal effect will not be good. If the dosage is too high, it will easily cause phytotoxicity and pollution to the environment.

 

So, in the use of pesticides, agriculture adjuvant is often used. They are inactive, but can increase the utilization rate of pesticides. And silicone adjuvant is widely applied in pesticides among all the agriculture additives for better effect. What would be the feature of pesticides mixed with silicone adjuvant?The excellent wetting ability of silicone adjuvant enable the liquid pesticide to spread fast on the surface of leave, strengthen the adhesion of the liquid pesticide, improve the utilization rate of the pesticide, lessen the loss of the liquid pesticide, and stop the pesticide from infiltrating the earth and leading to water pollution.

 

The application of Silicone Adjuvant in pesticides

 

In the 20th century, silicone surfactants are started to use as pesticide, and in the 1980s, the commercial promotion in agriculture industry began. In 1985, Monsanto New Zealand was the first in launching silicone surface agent L-77 ( Silwet M) . Extensive indoor chemical tests and field trials are made.

 

There are more than 5000 types and more than 10000 brands of silicone products in the market. The total global sales amount of silicone products is around 12 billion euro and the sales amount of Dow Corning has accounted for one third of the total amount. The second company is Momentive, which is also the top in the agriculture field. Silicone has many different properties such as good electrical property, good weather resistance, excellent air permeability, safety in touch with people, and low surface tension(which is related with agriculture industry).

 

Silicone surfactant has different types, and the most applied types are Polyether silicone oil, emulsified methyl silicone oil and amino silicone oil. The main functions are used as defoamer(for paint, ink and agriculture), wetting agent(for agriculture), leveling agent(for paint), hand feel agent(for textile and leather), and dispersing agent(for the dispersion of powder in water or oil). Besides, one of the biggest market is in cosmetics area. The global market share is around 3 billion Euro.

 

The structure and property of silicone surfactant

Silicone surfactants are grouped into four categories: cationic, anionic, nonionic and zwitterionic.  The hydrophilic part of silicone surfactant is various ionic groups or polyoxyalkylene ethers and the hydrophobic part of the silicone surfactant is polysiloxane. If classified according to their structure, organosilicon surfactants can have hydrophilic group on both ends or on side chain as well as block copolymer structure.The structure of non-ionic silicone surfactants is grouped into type A and type B, type A side chain is composed of polyoxyalkylene ether, and type B end group is polyoxyalkylene ether;

structure

 

The main function of silicone surfactant applied in agriculture area is for wetting and defoaming. The most popular function at present is wetting. The adding of silicone adjuvant in agriculture is very effective with low dosage. Generally speaking, 0.1% can have a good wetting ability. And 0.02% can achieve good effect. Organic fluorine has lower surface tension, but its wetting ability may not be as good as silicone product. There are various types of silicone surfactants, but those applied in agriculture area is limited. Its application in agriculture industry is not so long, but the effects are very obvious. Like around 10 years ago, Momentive has cooperated with agriculture department, which have promoted the development and application of silicone adjuvant in agriculture area.

Comparing with non-silicone surfactant, the obvious feature of silicone surfactants is low surface tension, high temperature resistance and good microbial resistance. The surface tension of non silicone surfactant is over 30mn/m, and the surface tension of silicone surfactant is 20mn/m. with the lower surface tension, the contact angle of water solution and solid surface will also be lower.

The surface tension of surfactant solution
Types of surfactant Mass fraction in water/% Surface tension(25℃)/mN.m-1
Alkyl polyoxyethylene ether(TX-10) 0.1 31.6
Alkyl polyoxyethylene ether(EO=4) 0.1 34.1
Sodium dodecyl sulfate 0.1 41.7
Non-ionic silicone surfactant 0.1 20.0
Ionic silicone surfactant 0.1 21.3

 

With the lower surface tension of silicone surfactant, the contact angle of hydrophobic surface is smaller. So, the wetting speed on the hydrophobic surface(like PU film) is faster and the wetting diameter is bigger.

The wetting speed and wetting diameter of surface surfactant on PU film
Surfactant types Wetting Speed Wetting Diameter/mm
Without surfactant 1 1.0
OP-10 2.6 3.0
Silicone surfactant 1 6.4 23
Silicone surfactant 2 7.8 32
Silicone surfactant3 12.6 40

 

The function of silicone adjuvant in agriculture pesticides

Pesticides are the necessary chemicals used in the growing process of crops, vegetables and fruits. They are applied to kill various germs, pests, and weeds. The reason is that most pesticides (including herbicides) are soluble in oil but not soluble in water; therefore before using them, pesticides need to be emulsified into an oil-in-water emulsion. Later water also need to be added to dilute them into very low concentration. The diluted emulsion will be sprayed onto the leaves, stalks and stems of crops, fruits, vegetables as well as weeds to inhibit or kill the growth of various germs, pests, and weeds. Generally, the surface tension of the aqueous solution with other surfactant is above 30 mN/m; but the surface tension of the aqueous solution of silicone surfactant is mostly around 20 mN/m. The surface tension of aqueous solution is related with its wetting ability and wetting speed on the solid surface. The lower the surface tension, the faster the wetting on the solid surface and the larger of the wetting area. On the surface of leaves and stems, there is a thin hydrophobic wax film. When the leaves and stems are sprayed with pesticide emulsion with normal surfactants, the spreading area is small and the wetting speed is slow. Because of the capillary effect, the pesticides cannot penetrate into many small pores. And those pests can still survive where it is not wetted by pesticides. The situation is similar on herbcides as the weeds cannot be removed if herbicides cannot penetrate into the pores of the weeds. If the herbicide formulation can be added with a small amount of organic silicone adjuvant, the using amount of of herbicide can be lessened to one third. As with the very low surface tension of silicone surfactants, the pesticide emulsion can have rapid wetting and penetrating into every small part of the leaves, stalks and stems of plants. And the effectiveness  of the pesticides can be strengthened and the effect of time can be prolonged.

The effect of herbicides added with silicone adjuvant on weeds control rate(%)
Without use of herbcides 0
Herbcides+normal surfactant 40
Herbcides +silicone adjuvant 1 80
Herbcides +silicone adjuvant 2 76
Herbcides +silicone adjuvant 3 81

From the data, it can be seen that the control rate on weeds has been improved by 100% comparing with silicone adjuvant and non silicone adjuvant.

 

Adding silicone surfactants into Avermectin pesticides, the initial lethality of red spider mites can be 100% and some can still reach 65% after 21 days

The effect of silicone surfactant on lethality on red spider mites
Types Start 7days 14 days 21days
+Water 10 5 0 0
Pesticides(0.12g/L))+non silicone surfactant 100 85 55 45
Pesticides+ silicone surfactant 100 80 95 65

 

The use of silicone adjuvant in pesticides and herbcides is very significant with its low surface tension. With the lower surface tension, the contact angle with the hydrophobic solid surface is smaller, and the wetting speed is faster, and the wetting diameter is large. Thus, the amount of herbicides can be decreased by more than one-third but with the same control rate of weeds. Also the amount of pesticides can be reduced, as well as get better killing effect on pests and longer function time.

 

Silicone adjuvant can greatly improve the spreading force and adhesion of the liquid pesticide on the surface of plants or pests, increase the utilization rate of pesticides, speed up the pests’ absorption of pesticides, and get a better insecticidal effect, thereby reducing the amount of pesticide spray.Silicone adjuvants can promote the penetration of systemic pesticide liquid through stomata, and strengthen the resistance to rain erosion. Further spray is not needed after rain.Silicone adjuvant can also reduce the using amount of pesticide and water, lower down pesticide pollution, and decrease pesticide residues. It can be used together with fungicides, insecticides, and plant growth regulators.

 

Top Global company in Silicone Agriculture Adjuvant

Momentive is the top 2nd company in silicone field, and its shanghai based agriculture department has set up agrochemical laboratories for indoor biological activity determination and formulation development. Its agriculture silicon adjuvant products are applied in agricultural fields in large scale such as pesticides,plant growth regulators, foliar fertilizers, etc., and the effects are very outstanding. Momentive’s Silwet series of agricultural synergists have good market reputation around the world. The Silwet series can be used in field sprays, as well as be added into pesticide formulations. Its performance in improving pesticide effect, lessening water consumption, reducing labor intensity, and saving average costs is very significant. Silwet 408, Silwet L77 and Silwet 618 are the popular types in the agriculture markets.

 

What should be the using amount of silicone adjuvant in agriculture products?

Silicone adjuvants are very efficient and eco friendly non-ionic surfactants. Its application in agriculture industry has changed the pesticide formulations and application techniques greatly. Because of its good wettability, permeability, expandability , good compatibility, foaming, foam suppression and foam stabilization, it can improve the utilization and application effect on a significant scale, as well as decrease the using amount of pesticides by 30%-50 %.

 

Although silicone adjuvant has significant effect in the use with pesticides, attention should be paid in its use to ensure a better function. While use silicone adjuvants together with pesticides, the concentration and the dosage should be strictly controlled. The recommended concentration of silicone adjuvants mixed with different kinds of pesticides is: herbicide 0.025%-0.15%, fungicide 0.015%-0.05%, insecticide 0.025%-0.1%, and plant growth regulator 0.025%-0.05%. The using amount together with powerful insecticides or herbicides should be decreased to prevent phytotoxicity.

 

With the development of silicone adjuvant products from different companies, farmers will have more choices to choose the top quality silicone adjuvant to improve the out yield of their crop products with less cost.

agriculture pesticide

What is Agriculture Adjuvants for Plants?

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Agriculture adjuvants are one member in the pesticide products. It is used together with pesticides in certain conditions and improves the effects of pesticides. When mixed with pesticides raw materials in the production process or mixed with pesticides, these substances can improve the physical and chemical properties, improve the pesticide effects and become easy to use. They are grouped as pesticide additives or agriculture adjuvants. In general, pesticide adjuvants have no biological activity, but the selection of agriculture adjuvants will impact much on the efficiency of pesticide formulations.

The smooth surfaces of many fungi, plants, and insects make the penetration of pesticide spray solution not easy. To solve this, adjuvants have been used together with pesticide solutions. Adjuvants can help improve the function of pesticides if used suitably. Adjuvants can be any additive that is added to a spray tank that strengthens pesticide performance. For example, adjuvants can be spread stickers, surfactants, buttering agents, crop oils, compatibility agents, and anti-foaming materials. Surfactants are adjuvants that stimulate the dispersing, emulsifying, dispersing, wetting or spreading of the pesticide solution on the plants. Most pesticides need to be used together with adjuvant. If adjuvants are not added to insecticides herbicides or fungicides, pest control can only be reached less than 50%. Adjuvants can help improve the efficiency of pesticides and the right use of adjuvants on plants is very critical.

 

The types of agriculture adjuvant

 

There are various types of agriculture adjuvants. According to statistics, there are over 3000 types of agriculture adjuvants all over the world and 200 types of them are used often. The agriculture adjuvant can be grouped by using the method, function, surface activity, structure, molecular size, etc.

Different agriculture adjuvant

(Diagram 1) Different Agriculture Adjuvant

 

1. Sorted by Function

The agriculture adjuvants added in the production process of pesticides are called formulation additives. As formulation additives, agriculture adjuvants are added to pesticide formulation in the production process, and this can meet the requirement of physical and chemical stability of pesticide formulation as well as meet the requirement of commercial performance. As per the function and effect in the formulation, the adjuvants can be grouped into a diluent, solvent, dispersant, wetting agent, filler and/or carrier, emulsifier, spreading agent, penetrant, controlled release agent, Defoamer, warning pigment, dustproof agent, stabilizer, foaming agent, thickener and thixotropic agent, etc.

When the agriculture adjuvants are mixed with the finished pesticides products, they are called pray additives or tank-mix additives: spray additives refer to additives that are added to pesticide spray directly and this can help improve the utilization rate of pesticides, the performance of pesticide spray, as well as the control effect of plant diseases.  There are agriculture adjuvants with properties such as absorption promotion, sedimentation promotion, anti-drift, anti-evaporation, and rain wash resistance, as well as synergists, water quality regulators, and phytotoxicity-reducing agents. The most regular additives are mineral oil-based and vegetable oil-based synergists or silicon adjuvants, surfactants, liquid fertilizers, and polymer additives that help increase the rain wash resistance, wetting, and spreading of pesticides.

 

2. Sorted by whether it has surface activity

Since most pesticides cannot be soluble in water, different types of surfactants are added to pesticides to meet the water dispersibility and process performance requirement. Thus, agriculture adjuvants are divided into two categories: surfactants (natural or synthetic) and non-surfactants.

Surfactants can be divided into ionic surfactants and nonionic surfactants according to the structure of hydrophilic groups. Ionic surfactant molecules can ionize in water and get positively charged, negatively charged, or both positively and negatively charged ions. Positively charged ions are called cationic surfactants. And its main types are quaternary ammonium salt-type surfactants and amine salt-type surfactants. Negatively charged ions are called anionic surfactants. Its main types are sulfonates, higher fatty acid salts, phosphate, etc.

Ions with both negative and positive charges are called amphoteric surfactants. Betaine-type Amino acid type, and imidazoline type, amine oxide surfactants are the main types. Non-ionic surfactant molecules cannot ionize in water and are neutral in electrical. The main types are polyethylene glycol type and polyol type.

Non-surfactant agriculture adjuvants mainly refer to the inert substances that are added into pesticide formulation, such as fillers, solvents, and other substances which can improve the physical and chemical properties or stability of the pesticide formulation. Nonsurfactant agriculture adjuvants include fillers, carriers, fillers, or adsorbents like kaolin, white carbon black, inorganic salts, clay, urea, sawdust, starch, etc.; solvents and co-solvents such as ethers, alcohols, vegetable oils or hydrocarbons; PH regulators such as sodium carbonate, sodium tripolyphosphate, and citric acid; Warning pigments such as rose essence, brilliant blue, and acid red.

 

3. Sorted by molecular weight

Surfactants can be grouped into two types: polymer type and ordinary type as per molecular weight. Ordinary surfactants have a molecular weight from several hundred to several thousand. Polymer-type surfactants have a molecular weight from several thousand to several tens of thousands. Polymer-type surfactants can be grouped into three categories: synthetic, semi-synthetic, natural, semi-synthetic, and synthetic as per their sources. Synthetic polymers have types like polyvinylpyrrolidone, acrylic polymers, polyvinyl ether, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyacrylamide, etc. Semi-synthetic surfactants include carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), hydroxyethyl cellulose (HEC), and cationic starch; Natural polymer surfactants are mainly pectin, starch, protein, and alginic acid (sodium), etc.

How do agriculture adjuvants work for plants?

By understanding how water works, we can know better how agriculture adjuvants work. The molecule of water is bipolar, and it has a positive charge and a negative charge. The negative charge and positive charge will attract each other like a magnet.

Compared with the internal water molecules, the surface molecular of water is more attracted together. This cohesion leads to surface tension and makes the substance resistant to tensile force. And surface tension will prevent things from getting wet. But the agriculture adjuvants or surfactants can break the surface tension. The surface tension is reduced by agriculture adjuvants from two aspects. The first is to increase the unbalancing of surface molecules, and the second is to decrease the attraction among surface molecules, thus the tightness of the surface is reduced.

surface tension broken

(Diagram 2) Surface tension is broken by surfactant molecule

The agriculture adjuvants molecule help reduce the surface tension and make pesticides more spread on the plant surface and reach the target. When different substances get in contact with water molecules, different results will happen. If the two substances are different in charge, the two forces will hold together with each other. If the two substances are the same in charge, the two forces will repel. If the two substances don’t have a charge, nothing will happen. Due to the surface tension, water will drop on most surfaces of plants. But this surface tension can be adjusted by the agriculture adjuvants of pesticides.

When the pesticide solution with agriculture adjuvant has lower surface tension, the pesticide will have better spread on the leaves and the effect of pesticides will be improved. Meanwhile, it can decrease the using number of pesticides, reduce the effect of pesticides on the environment, and bring benefits to the agriculture industry. But the pesticides are very special, so it should be careful in choosing the agricultural adjuvants.  The synergistic effect of agriculture adjuvants on pesticides is a show of its effectiveness on target organisms. Agriculture can help the distribution and cohesion of pesticides on the surface of organisms better. It can also strengthen the absorption of pesticides by organisms of plants, and thereby improve the biological activity of pesticides

Different agriculture adjuvants have their function. Some adjuvants help in diluting the original pesticide; some help in preventing the beads from gathering and becoming larger; some can improve the wetting, adhesion, and penetrating of the particles. In summary, the main function of agriculture adjuvants is to improve the chemical and physical properties of pesticides and to maximize their effects with the safe application. Agriculture adjuvants are developed along with the development of pesticides. More types and series of agriculture adjuvants are innovated to meet the requirements of different pesticide products. Professional formulation and processing technique is also developed to meet the farmers’ requirements.

Which brands of agriculture adjuvants are popular in the market for plants?

Among different agriculture adjuvants, wetting adjuvants are one of the popular types that are used together with pesticides. Agriculture wetting agents can make insoluble pesticides diluted in water and make them have the wetting ability. It can help decrease the surface tension of water and make the substrate wet. And the pesticide with wetting adjuvants can be well spread on the surface of insects, crops, and weeds. Thus, the removal effect can be improved, and fewer pesticides can be used.

wetting agent with different effects

(Diagram 3) A wetting agent with different effects

Following are some popular wetting adjuvant types and their brand names

1. Pull open powder BX

This wetting agent is an old well-known brand. It is one type of sodium salt of butyl naphthalene sulfonate. Its water solubility is good and has very less bubbles. But the problem is that the original powder of BX is very difficult to get and the sold products are not original mostly. Also, the price varies due to the different content of BX. The Nepal BX Dry sold by BASF is one of the open powder series, which has good effects as well as a higher cost.

2.K12, K14 (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate)

K12, and K14 isotherm common wetting adjuvants. It has a very good effect and is white.  But when it is exposed to acid, it is easy to decompose. And there will be bubbles occur which are not easy to eliminate. And its cost is also low among the wetting adjuvants.

3.Akzo Nobel’s Morwet EFW

Akzo Nobel’s Morwet EFW is one type of wetting adjuvant with excellent performance. It is a mixture of an anionic wetting agent and alkyl naphthalene sulfonate. The typical property is that it has excellent water solubility as well as very low bubbles. In WDG, Morwet EFW is a good combination with dispersant D-425 for dispersing and wetting.

4. Rhodia’s Global BC/10

Rhodia’s wetting adjuvant is a liquid type of wetting agent and it works very well in the pesticide formulation.

5. Hanmok’s W－2001

Beijing Hanmok’s wetting adjuvant is fine for wax particles. Its solubility in water is normal but its cost is also not very high. WDG is a good combination with dispersants D-1001 and D-1002 for dispersing and wetting.

6.Momentive Silwet 408

Momentive Silwet 408 is used on large scale together with the pesticide in the spray. The wetting ability is a very excellent and reasonable cost. Similar silicone adjuvant from China also performs well and at better prices.

 

Benefits of agriculture adjuvants for plants

Some types of pesticides must be used together with supporting additives to ensure their effects. For example, dicamba and glyphosate must be used along with designated supporting agriculture adjuvant.

The application of appropriate agriculture adjuvants can improve the effects greatly. For example, if the insecticide malathion spray is added with the pesticide spreading agent Triton CST (0.1% concentration), and the effect of killing black beetles in 72 hours can reach 83-93% (but in single-uses of malathion, it can only reach 6%.

Supporting adjuvants need to meet the special requirements of certain application technologies, which can make them effective in the application. For example, ultra-low volume spray technology has requirements for diluents or formulation carriers or phytotoxicity reducing agents; the foaming spray method has special requirements for foam stabilizers or foaming agents; electrostatic spray technology has requirements not only for ultra-low capacity but also needs special antistatic agent system.

To keep safety, different agriculture adjuvants are needed in some pesticide applications. For example, the anti-drift agent can prevent neighboring sensitive crops, animals, and humans from poisoning by pesticide drifting. The addition of warning colors can also help warn people to keep away from poisoning or accidental ingestion. The herbicide is very active, but its selectivity is not sufficient. To protect the crop from phytotoxicity, herbicide needs to be used together with safe additives. The wetting agent is helping to improve the effects of pesticides, with a better spreading and penetration of pesticides on the surface of different plants and crops. Different kinds of agriculture also help the agriculture industry get a better environment for nearby plants, animals, and humans, especially the green agriculture adjuvants developed along with technological improvement.